The International Monetary Fund in Washington said today that a batch of mail had tested positive for anthrax.
Further, more definitive, tests have been ordered. The World Bank, meanwhile, told 1,200 of its 8,500 employees in Washington yesterday not to report to work for two days because a preliminary anthrax test of mail came back positive, spokeswoman Ms Caroline Anstey said.
The preliminary tests often give false positives and the more definitive tests should be done in two days, she added.
IMF chief spokesman Mr Thomas Dawson said today that all IMF mail is initially screened for anthrax at an offsite facility.
However, officials decided to do a second test yesterday after being informed of the reading at the World Bank. This second test produced a positive reading for anthrax where no such reading had been found in the first test.
Mr Dawson said the suspect mail has been sent to a lab for a third more extensive set of tests with results expected back in two days. IMF employees who worked in the mailroom and the loading dock area had been sent home, he said.
The preliminary anthrax readings at the IMF and World Bank follow a field test positive reading earlier this month at the Federal Reserve. Fed spokesman Mr David Skidmore said today that follow-up testing was still being conducted on the 20 letters involved in that incident.
The investigation into who sent several anthrax-laced letters last year has produced few leads and investigators acknowledge the trail is growing cold. The government has begun a strategy of focusing on possible sources of anthrax, rather than identifying suspects from the few clues gained from the letters.
AP